Baek Jong-won Criticizes Dakgangjeong Shop Owners: "They Don't Even Follow the Basics"

Culinary researcher Baek Jong-won is visiting a Dakgangjeong (Korean fried chicken) restaurant in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, criticizing ingredients such as garlic. Photo by SBS from the broadcast of 'Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant'

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] Culinary expert Baek Jong-won criticized the owners of chicken gangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken) shops who showed no improvement even after three weeks.

On the 19th, the SBS entertainment program 'Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant' featured Baek Jong-won visiting a chicken gangjeong shop located in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul.

During the broadcast, Kim Sung-joo ate the chicken gangjeong that Jung In-sun had brought for takeout and said, "There is a problem right now. It tastes somewhat like jangajji (pickled vegetables), which is not good. The fried chicken is crispier, and the seasoning is too overpowering."

Hearing this, Baek Jong-won explained, "It might be the taste of starch syrup. It seems like too much starch syrup was used," adding, "Using sugar instead can create a crispier texture rather than a sticky one. The sweetness varies depending on the dish."

He continued, "When the chicken cools down, the difference between sugar and starch syrup becomes significant. Starch syrup is sticky, while sugar is crispy," and added, "The difference between seasoned fried chicken and chicken gangjeong is that seasoned fried chicken has a thick sauce coating, whereas chicken gangjeong should be supported by crispiness. Go and show them this."

He also said, "The reason it tastes like jangajji is probably because they bought peeled garlic. Even the peeled garlic in circulation tastes like garlic jangajji," and warned, "If peeled garlic smells like garlic jangajji, they really deserve to be scolded."

Then, Baek Jong-won visited the chicken gangjeong shop in person and said, "Do you know why I told you not to use minced garlic?" He added, "When I first talked about garlic, I mentioned that old garlic smells sour. Didn't they understand that properly back then? They don't know the principles of cooking. Do they not even know about spoiled garlic?" and criticized them.

Watching this, Kim Sung-joo added, "This is the first time in three weeks since Baek Jong-won visited the chicken gangjeong shop that the atmosphere has been like this."

Furthermore, Baek Jong-won said, "If you smelled it once, you would know. Can't you see with your eyes that it’s spoiled? If you don’t even know this is spoiled, you really shouldn’t be in the food business," and said, "If you don’t follow the basics, then it’s all just a performance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.